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Date: 7/17/2019
LONGMEADOW – Eight golden shovels of dirt were lifted in unison as elected officials broke ground on the new Longmeadow Adult Community Center. The project has taken nearly eight years, from inspiration to groundbreaking.
“We did it,” said Marie Angelides, Chair of the Longmeadow Board of Selectmen.
“The spirit of this building is amazing, the caring and friendship,” Angelides said about the current center and spoke about filling the new building with that same spirit.
“Senior centers are often dismissed as a leisure investment,” state Sen. Eric Lesser said, but in reality, “our senior centers are really the first line of defense,” in the aging population’s health and community. Lesser, who outgoing Town Manager Stephen J. Crane described as, “a stalwart supporter of our community, especially our senior community,” has also worked on senior issues through his Thrive After 55 health initiative.
State Rep. Brian Ashe said he was proud to be a part of the project. He spoke of the activities and programs that had been happening with, “limited resources in an archaic building.
“We had a space problem, not an atmosphere problem. Imagine what we can do,” in the new building, Ashe said.
Judy Yaffe, a member of the Longmeadow Council on Aging Board of Directors, said the current facility is ill-equipped for the needs of its patrons.
“We need to address the aging community,” Yaffe said. Selectman Mark Strange agrees.
“We have to continue to make investments in our community,” Strange said adding that the existing facilities are simply not sufficient.
Marybeth Bergeron, who is also on the Longmeadow Council on Aging Board of Directors has spearheaded the project since it’s inception in 2011. She said construction of the new center will take approximately 14 months. The current building, originally built in 1964 as an elementary school, will remain in place and the town will repurpose it. The new facility will be steps away, where Greenwood Park’s “Field 1” currently sits.
The new 26,500 square-foot, fully accessible center will boast an array of amenities, including 110 parking spaces, exterior patio areas, a cafe and a library.
A gymnasium will feature a track and a full-sized basketball court, with room for outdoor pickleball courts and exercise programs. An exercise room on the second floor and the existing swimming pool will round out the fitness opportunities.
Also on the second floor, there will be three classrooms to host programs such as art classes and a demonstration kitchen. Seniors will have access to a nurse, a veteran’s agent, Outreach Coordinator, and a food bank.
Several features will make the adult community center sustainable and energy-efficient including triple pane windows, solar panels, charging stations, and a permanent generator.
Technologically, there will be three information centers, two additional “my senior centers,” projectors and screens, hearing devices in each room, a panic alarm system to call the police station, security, the copier, smart TVs, a fob system for the fitness room, a database in software for membership, defibrillators, cordless microphone system, a computer class device and iPads.
Bergeron said that the $14 million for the building was appropriated by the town, but there is still much fundraising to be done. The Longmeadow Adult Community Fund was created to raise money for furniture, fixtures, and equipment to make it, “completely ready day one.”
Notable donors to the Longmeadow Adult Community Center Fund include Congressman Richard Neal and Ashe and his wife and Sonia Ashe. There are many fundraising campaigns including naming opportunities for rooms and features within the facility. Those who donate $1,000 or more will have their names onto a Wall of Honor, Bergeron said.
There’s also a fundraising challenge from Prestley and Helen Blake. If the fund can raise $50,000 they will match it.
“We have been in the quiet phase of fundraising for the past couple of months,” said Bergeron, and have raised $250,000 of their $1 million goal.